The overall goal of this competitive renewal application for support of our MBRS SCORE program is to further San Francisco State University's (SFSU's) long-term objective to increase the productivity and caliber of its faculty conducting biomedical research and to significantly increase the number of minority faculty and students engaged in and pursuing biomedical careers. The specific goals of our proposed SCORE program are to increase: (1) the rate and quality of publication of original research by participating faculty in peer-reviewed journals; (2) the submission and funding of major grant applications, including R01-level applications, supporting biomedical research by participating faculty during the award period; (3) the presentation of research results by participating faculty at national and international meetings; (4) the hiring and retention of underrepresented minority faculty at SFSU; (5) the scope and effectiveness of the biomedical research infrastructure at SFSU; and (6) the number of underrepresented minority students trained in SCORE research programs. Our program is designed to maintain the research competitiveness of our continuing senior PIs as they persist in submitting major R01-level grant applications with the goal of transitioning off SCORE funding and to develop the competitiveness of our intermediate level PIs to the point of submitting quality R01 applications, as well as to develop the research capacity of both our junior and newest biomedical faculty. Nine of the 25 research projects proposed in this application are from URM faculty members. [unreadable] [unreadable] Together, all 25 projects will provide our students with an unprecedented breadth of research and training opportunities in developmental biology, enzymology, immunology, neurophysiology, microbiology, virology, plant molecular biology, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and mathematical and computational modeling in experimental models that range from yeast, weeds, worms, flies, crabs, fish, frogs, chicks and mice. The program director and assistant program director will advise and monitor the progress of all SCORE research projects and administer the program in consultation with the MBRS Advisory Committee. An External Scientific Advisory Committee will advise individual investigators on the scientific focus and progress of research projects and advise the program directors on measures to improve infrastructure. A comprehensive evaluation of the SCORE program will continue to be provided by external evaluators from SFSU's Public Research Institute. [unreadable] [unreadable] Relevance to Public Health: The SFSU SCORE Program will contribute to the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minority scientists in the biomedical workforce. The biomedical workforce will function optimally to serve all U.S. citizens when its ethnic composition mirrors that of the population it serves. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]